YBhg Tan Sri Dato’Salleh bin Haji Mohd Nor (born 20 October 1940, in

Kuala Pilah (town) Kuala Pilah (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Kolo Pilah''), or simply Pilah, is a town in Kuala Pilah District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It is 36 km from the state capital Seremban and 101 km from Kuala Lumpur. Townscape Kuala Pilah is stuate ...

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...

) is a Malaysian forester, conservationist and academician. Salleh was the first director-general of the Forest Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and served as president of the

Malaysian Nature Society Malaysian Nature Society (, abbrev: MNS) is the oldest and one of the most prominent environmental not for profit, non-governmental organisations in Malaysia. It was first established, as the Malayan Nature Society, with the launch of the ''Mala ...

(MNS) for 30 years.

Education

Tan Sri Dr Salleh received the Colombo Plan Scholarship to study forestry in Adelaide from 1961-1962, and later at the Australian Forestry School (AFS), Canberra, from which he graduated with a BSc (Forestry) from

Adelaide University Adelaide University is a planned public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2024, it will combine the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and the University of ...

and a Diploma of Forestry from AFS. Salleh received his Ph.D. and Masters Degree from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

Honours and awards

Salleh was the 2016 recipient of the Merdeka Award in the 'Environment' category. He has received the following honours: * : ** Commander of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm). The o ...

(PMN) -

Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, few provinces in the Philippines and several provinces in Indonesia ...

Public office

Salleh chaired the Malaysian Antarctic Programme and has visited

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

twice. He has served as the Pro-Chancellor of

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) () is a Malaysian public research-intensive university ranked 188th in the world by QS University rankings. Its medium of instruction is English. Campuses UTM has three campuses – the main campus is in ...

. He was elected president of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). He was a member of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), chairman of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), chairman of Malaysian Bio-Industry Organization (MBIO), and secretary-general of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM). He is a fellow of the Malaysian Scientific Association.

Conservation work

As president of MNS, and subsequently as senior advisor of the society, Salleh has been active in campaigns to save several forests in Malaysia. Successful campaigns have led to the protection of

Endau-Rompin National Park Endau-Rompin National Park ( Malay: ''Taman Negara Endau-Rompin'') is a protected tropical rainforest situated within a massif in the southern foothills of the Tenasserim Hills, straddling Segamat and Mersing Districts in northeastern Johor and ...

, Royal Belum State Park,

Kota Damansara Community Forest Park The Kota Damansara Community Forest Park (KDCFP) is a secondary forest located in Selangor, Malaysia. It was part of a defunct Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve gazetted in 1898 which contained of protected primary forest. This made it as the oldest ...

Bukit Kiara Bukit Kiara is a densely forested area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The area is in proximity to the suburbs of Bukit Damansara, TTDI, Mont Kiara, Sri Hartamas Sri Hartamas (Golden Estates in English language, English) is an affluent reside ...

park and numerous other sites of high value for biodiversity.

References

{{Authority control Foresters Conservationists 20th-century naturalists Living people Malaysian people of Malay descent 21st-century Malaysian people 20th-century Malaysian people Malaysian Muslims Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm 1940 births